Jaded
by hurriCADE
Summary: "I felt angry, more angry than I had ever felt before. Beyond the door I was leaning on, one of my friends was getting emotionally pushed around by one of her parents." Jori friendship!


**A/N: Ahh, I'm so conflicted! I love Cade, but I also love Jori! XD There doesn't seem to be much of Cade in these newer episodes though (Jade yells at Cat a lot more in the later episodes than she ever did in the earlier episodes, has anyone noticed this?). Anyways, I decided to write a Jori friendship; test it out a bit, as I've never written for this pairing before, but you could view it as romance if you wanted to.**

**DISCLAIMER: Well, it **_**was**_** mine a long time ago, but then Dan Schneider broke into my house and stole it from me, so I guess I don't own it:P**

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><p>Sikowitz stood at the front of the classroom explaining a new project that we were going to do for next Friday as he casually sipped from a coconut.<p>

"Now I shall announce the pairs you will be working in for the next week," he said, pulling a piece of paper seemingly out of nowhere. "Sinjin and Beck, Carly and André, Cat and Robbie, Freddie and Sam, Jade and Tori…" As soon as I heard this I groaned, sliding down further in my chair. Why did Sikowitz seem to like making me miserable? I heard Jade scoff from behind me.

"Suck it up, princess. Its not like I'm thrilled about this either," she snapped, earning herself a disapproving look from Beck who sat beside her with his arm wrapped around her. She just gave him an innocent grin and he sighed, returning his gaze back to Sikowitz. She gave me a dangerous smirk, kicking the back of my chair once for good measure before turning her attention back to Sikowitz as well.

This was not going to be fun.

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><p>Once school was done for the day, I headed to my locker, absentmindedly marvelling at the bright stars around the 'make it shine' as I worked on my lock. I opened my locker and began shuffling stuff around inside when I heard Jade.<p>

"Hey Vega!" I sighed, turning to see her approaching me.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning to face her.

"What are we doing for our project?" she asked.

"For Sikowitz?"

"What other project do we have to do?" she replied snappishly. I sighed; this project was going to be loads of fun: note the sarcasm.

"Why don't we work on it after school? You can come over to my house and we can decide what we're doing," I said. She sighed dramatically, pretending to think it over for a really long time. After about eight seconds of silence, Jade answered.

"Fine. Five work for you?"

"Um, probably not. Maybe seven-ish? Or eight-ish? I'm busy at five."

"Five it is then," Jade said, giving me a cocky grin before walking off. I whined in frustration before turning back to my locker.

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><p>It was about seven and I was starting to get angry; actually, I had started getting angry an hour and a half ago. I was beyond angry now. I had cancelled my plans with Andre so Jade and I could work on our project and then Jade doesn't even bother to show up.<p>

After checking my phone again, I decided to just go over to her house and see what was up. I text Cat to get directions, figuring Jade would kill me if I asked Beck, and headed outside. I decided to walk; it was a nice night and Jade didn't live that far from my house.

I arrived at her house, noticing the plain and clean look of the place. It didn't seem Jade's style at all; when I heard the phrase "Jade's house" I usually pictured dark, freaky... haunted house-like, or something along those lines. Shaking myself from my thoughts I approached her doorstep, keeping one eye out to make sure no tricks or traps set off on me; I mean seriously, it's _Jade's_ house, there's no possible way it's normal!

Reaching her front steps I stopped, realizing I was still in tact and nothing had tried to kill me. Maybe Jade's house was actually normal...

"I'm not done talking to you yet! Get your butt back here young lady!"

"No! You're not the boss of me _or _my butt!"

And maybe I spoke too soon.

"Don't talk to me like that! You're little attitude problem isn't helping your case!"

I knew this wasn't any of my business, and that I shouldn't meddle with things that weren't any of my business, but I couldn't help peering through the blinds on the nearby window. I couldn't see anything of interest, which annoyed me to no end.

"Why do you have to be like this? This isn't _fair_!"

"Life's unfair! That's just how it is! And as soon as this ridiculous 'director' fantasy leaves your head maybe you'll understand that!"

"It's _not _a fantasy!"

"It's not _practical_!"

I went back to the doorstep, settling for pressing my ear to the dark colored door. It was shockingly cold on my skin, kind of like the first wave of sheer frigid temperature after jumping into a pool for the first time. I ignored it though, too curious to have a bit of chill scare me away.

"And what the hell would you consider a more practical plan, huh? We're in _Hollywood_! Do you want me to just go off and be some waitress for other stuck up celebrities that didn't have their dads tell them to give up their dreams!"

"It would be more practical than _this_! Jade, do you know how many other people in the world have the same dreams as you? The chances of you being picked out of the whole world is slim to none!"

I couldn't help but feel bad for Jade. My parents had always supported my dreams no matter how crazy; Jade's parents wanted her to give up her dreams. My anger toward Jade's tardiness melted away as I began silently rooting for the pale girl defending her dreams from her dad.

"You think I don't know that?"

"Well you sure don't _sound _like you do!"

"Why can't you just be supportive of me?"

"Because you're just going to end up wasting your time and your life on this silly idea of yours only for it to crash and burn in the end!"

I flinched slightly at this. How could Jade's own father tell her she was just setting herself up for failure? That she was wasting her life when all she was doing was chasing her dreams? I felt angry, more angry than I had ever felt before. Beyond the door I was leaning on, one of my friends was getting emotionally pushed around by one of her parents. However, accompanying the rage I felt was also a sting of helplessness. This was Jade's fight, and no matter how much I wanted to intervene I couldn't.

"I didn't say you had to like my ideas, I just said be more supportive!"

"I'm not going to support my daughter wasting her life away for nothing!"

"It's not nothing! I've gotten further than I ever thought I would! I actually _made it _into Hollywood arts! I have friends, a boyfriend, even some teachers that are all supportive of me!"

I gave a small smile at this; it was true. We were all so supportive of Jade. Her plays, though a bit twisted, were always interesting to watch. Sikowitz even admitted once that Jade had a true talent when it came to directing.

"That boyfriend of yours won't be there for the rest of your life!"

"How do you know? I love him and he loves me and that's all that matters!"

"And these friends of yours-"

"Dad, don't even!"

"Jade, I've seen them before! That red-headed girl-"

"Cat's my best friend! She's such a great actress and a talented singer!"

"And that kid with the ketchup problems-"

"That was just a rumour, and Andre's already made a few deals with a record producer!"

"What about that one friend of yours, the girl with the cheek bones-"

"What about Tori? Dad, she's crazy talented! She's the one that actually helped me produce one of my plays. If anything, she supports me the most!"

My breath caught at this. I was surprised her dad had even brought me up, and I absentmindedly put a hand to my cheek; were my cheekbones really that noticeable?

But then, when Jade interrupted her dad, I got to hear some of Jade's honest thoughts about me for the first time; I was her crazy talented friend that was the most supportive of her than any other of her friends. A smile made it's way onto my face before I quickly shrugged it off, realizing I had missed some of the argument because the next thing I knew I could hear footsteps approaching. I tried to lift my face from the door and hide but I only succeeded in stumbling. I hastily readjusted my body just as the door swung open. Jade froze in mid-step, her eyes wide, taking in my guilty expression at the same time I saw the red puffiness of her eyes. She quickly ducked her head down, casually trying to hide her unshed tears by playing with her hair.

"I-... What are you doing here?" she asked, attempting to sound like her regular snarky self but her voice wavered.

"I was... You were late, and..." I stuttered out lamely.

"You couldn't have tried texting or something?"

"I _did_."

She fell silent, slowly processing this before reaching into her back pocket to retrieve her phone. Still keeping her head down she flipped it open to find 24 new texts and four phone calls, all from me. "Oh," she said dumbly, slipping her phone back into her pocket. I fidgeted slightly.

"Hey, umm.. Are you okay?" I asked, unnerved by her calm and quiet demeanor. I'd never seen her like this before. Angry, sad, heartbroken, jealous, I'd seen it all, but I'd never seen Jade like this before; she seemed so out of it, almost shell-shocked. Defeated.

"You can't tell anyone."

"Huh?"

"About this! Anything you heard or saw, you can't tell anyone, got it?" she snapped, her voice raw. I swallowed, nodding feverishly.

"I know, I wasn't going to," I assured her. She sniffled, and I felt my heart sink at the sound. "Jade, are you...? You-"

"I'm fine!" she forced out, her voice breaking with a sob. I'd seen her cry before, when Beck had left her, but this seemed totally different. This wasn't heart break, this was simply breaking, and I hated to see Jade in such a state knowing it was her father's doing.

Acting on the first thought that came to my head I wrapped my arms around her shaking form. I was mildly surprised when she didn't resist at all. She hugged me back, her head resting on my shoulder as she sobbed her pain and sorrow away.

And right now, I didn't care that we didn't work on our project. I didn't care that my shoulder was soaked. I didn't even care that my shirt would probably have permanent mascara stains on it. All I cared was that my friend was hurt, she needed my help, and I was here giving it to her.

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><p><strong>The end! How was it? I realize the arguing takes up a lot of the fic, but as long as there's a big "Aww!" moment at the end I think that makes up for it. Does that make sense? Oh well, I think it turned out okay.<strong>

**Feel free to review! It makes me smile:)**

**Don't worry, I'm friendly:D**

**~;3'~hurriCADE~';3~**


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